What retirement issue has hit you or your clients out of left field, and how did you resolve it?
Trevor Mathias: I've seen a lot of people who need growth in their portfolios to achieve goals lose focus and discipline by shifting their portfolios to more fixed income/cash. It has been hard to resolve this but I've tried to emphasize the benefit of long-term financial planning, and I am spending more time than normal educating people about market cycles.
What prospecting methods have been most successful for you in attracting retirement-planning clients?
Referrals have been the best source of attracting retirement assets, because usually when a person is laid off there usually are more of their friends with the same issues/concerns. Also, we have done seminars for companies going through layoffs, and this has generated some interest as well.
Do you face any frequently occurring retirement-planning mistakes with prospects?
The biggest mistake that prospects make is not having a plan. The first thing I try to do is determine a game plan for the prospect's wealth goals and map it out to see if the vision is even possible given current and future resources.
